Otto Wallin outclasses Dominic Breazeale to win wide decision

Otto Wallin looked like a threat to any heavyweight on Saturday night.

Wallin, who made his name in a competitive setback against Tyson Fury, outboxed Dominic Breazeale to win a one-sided decision and bolster his credentials as a legitimate contender on the Adrien Broner-Jovanie Santiago card in Uncasville, Conn.

Wallin (22-1, 14 KOs) used his superior speed and skillset to pick apart Breazeale (20-3, 18 KOs) for most of the fight, including some hard, eye-catching left hands from the southpaw.

Breazeale, a two-time title challenger, was the aggressor but most of his shots were wild and telegraphed, which allowed Wallin to avoid them.

Breazeale seemed to be tired and discouraged by the middle rounds, when it was clear that he was in over his head. However, he had his best rounds late in the fight, when he was able to trap Wallin on the ropes and land some power shots.

Otto Wallin turned in what arguably was the best performance of his career on Saturday. Amanda Westcott / Showtime

The problem for Breazeale was that it was too little, too late. He simply hadn’t accomplished enough to make the fight competitive. He landed only 16% of his punches, according to CompuBox. Wallin connected on 35% of his shots, 41% of his power punches.

The scores were 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112, all in Wallin’s favor. Boxing Junkie scored it 118-110 for Wallin.

“We knew coming in that I had better footwork, better speed, so I wanted to use that,” Wallin said. “And I have good defense, too. He hit me here and there but nothing too serious.

“I said before the fight that I just gotta do what I’m good at and that’s what I tried to do.”

The 30-year-old Swede has now won two consecutive fights since the loss to Fury. He stopped Travis Kauffman this past August.

He was asked who he would like to fight next but only said that he wants to continue to get better.

“My ultimate goal is to be champion,” he said. “But I have to keep improving, I’m not there yet. I’ve got a lot of work to do, I’m getting better. I’m not so focused on who I fight,

“I just want to fight, keep it stepping it up and when I get another shot, I’ll be ready for it.”

Breazeale, 35, was coming off a first-round, one-punch knockout loss to Deontay Wilder. That means he now has lost two one-sided fights in succession. He’ll have to decide whether he wants rebuild at his age.